Henri Matisse was among a handful of artists who challenged and successfully altered the course of 20th-century art history. The French painter, who once said his life calling was to produce art “of balance, purity, and serenity,” was able to achieve his groundbreaking work thanks in part to the support of two wealthy Americans. His rise to the tops of the art world started with the now-famous Saturday Saloons in 1906 at the Paris apartment of Gertrude Stein, where Matisse found his first influential supporter. Two decades later, with more fame, Matisse traveled to the U.S. and met another well-to-do art lover, Dr. Albert Barnes. The physician already had the largest Matisse collection in the country, and he commissioned the artist to paint a mural for his mansion. Barnes went on to create his own art museum, and today, the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia houses a Matisse collection that’s among the world’s largest. A new three-volume box set, Matisse in the Barnes Foundation (Thames & Hudson, $275), edited by Yve-Alain Bois, illustrates the wide range of Matisse’s work showcased at the museum. Pictured: Matisse viewing his 1917 painting The Music Lesson at the Barnes Foundation, 1933.

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